To be an Individual for Once
by NoLongerWritingHere
Summary: Fredfic! What will the Room of Requirement help him realise? He thought he needed time alone, but perhaps that isn't exactly so...


This is a challenge for **FictionNET** ( http / sycotic . org / fnet ) If you're looking for a nifty (mostly based on Harry Potter) writing forum, join Fnet and say that **Keladryie** sent you. It's seriously worth it.

This is written for the challenge: **HP Challenge 13 - Me, Myself And I**

Under these guidelines:

_Taking ONE HP character (your choice; no OC's), write what they find when they enter the Room of Requirement. There are certain limitations for this challenge, which are: _

_- Only ONE character must feature in the fic. They can allude to other characters, but only your chosen character can appear  
- NO SHIPS. Room of Requirement fics can descend into smut or fluff fests; which is a shame, when you think of all the possibilities the room can offer  
- Although you may have a few brief paragraphs at the beginning/end of your fic outside the room/in another location, the majority of the fic MUST take place in the room  
- NO OC's  
- All entries must be a minium of 1000 words_

_------_

It had taken him a while to get away. It was tricky when you lived so close to everyone. You woke up all at about the same time, dressed together, walked down to breakfast and then off to class together etc and if you broke away from that you always got questions as to where you were going, or people wanting to come along. It was sometimes hard to slip away, especially unnoticed, when you didn't have an excuse for such.

And when you were a twin, there was never any excuse to leave them behind.

After all, they had all the same classes and breaks, had the same friends and were both on the Quidditch team. They even got in trouble together. One of them had never been given detention without the other one copping trouble as well so what excuse could there be? They weren't often given tasks to do from teachers unless it was a two-man operation so that couldn't work as an excuse…

Somehow though it had been done. George was playing against Ron in Wizards Chess while Harry looked on and Hermione studied, occasionally breaking up an argument or two and Fred had slowly made his way to the door, chatting to one person and then moving on to another group of people, and then another until he made himself to the door, excused himself from the conversation and slipped out. Almost easy, almost not. His paranoid mind had tricked him into hearing George calling out to him as he had sprinted to the end of the hall but as he had looked back he hadn't seen anyone, just the closed portrait – maybe he was going crazy he thought wryly to himself.

Now he was there though. He paced as he reached where the door should be and then pressed himself through, closing the door thankfully behind him. Here, he was free, in peace and quiet – something Fred had never thought he would really experience.

So…what to do now? He hesitated somewhat as he walked more into the room, almost unable to believe that he was there and had made it there trouble free. Silence. Casual books lined shelves all on the mixing of powers and anything that had ever known to be discovered so far – everything he could need on their research of products for the store. For once perhaps he could come up with his own ideas without interruption of opinion. He would have the chance to come up with something that was purely his and not a twin operation.

He wasn't greedy, it would just be nice to get recognition for something he himself had come up with. George had made two things by himself already; mostly through luck and a bout of saying awake more than Fred did (Fred had a habit of slipping off to asleep a little after the3am mark, whereas George was known for being able to pull an all-nighter if he was inspired without trouble. Fred just couldn't, he needed his sleep more for some reason. It was this 'weakness' as they both joking called it which had stopped Fred from having the same luck that George did.

So that was why he had escaped for the afternoon – to get the extra study and research in. And also…well…just so he could be his own human being for once…

Don't get him wrong, George was his best friend, his life partner in a non-romantic sense. He wasn't sure whether he'd be able to live without his twin if something ever happened to George and not himself…and yet…

Sometimes it was just nice to not have a shadow, (or be one) for once.

Sometimes it was just nice to be an individual instead of a partnership, known forever as FredandGeorge instead of Fred. And also George. Or George. And also Fred.

Hell, Fred was also well aware that George felt very much the same which made him feel a little less guilty about the 'running off and escaping' escapade, but nothing was going to get done if he spent the whole afternoon drifting around the room like a lost cloud as he thought this all over.

He had come to the room of requirement to be himself. To be an individual for once, and as such to study and research and come up with his own bag of tricks which were his very own invention to claim. Not much to ask, eh? And yet the Room of Requirement was the only place that could offer such a place for him.

He settled himself down in two beanbags which were casually flung next to the main bookcase and pulled out the first book he saw which seemed to be mainly based on the essence and uses of Meriwhonple and opened it to the first page. This was going to be excellent. He felt good about this, he could almost feel the knowledge flowing from the book through his fingers, just waiting for him to know it all and use it to create something fantastic and hysterical! In the next…hour even, he knew that he'd have some great idea of something new to try out and it would be done, he'd be able to make some great trick by himself!

Hey, what was that over there?

...Hmm…nothing. Okay, back to the book. Yes. Study. Waiting to be known so that he would have something of his own just like George did, yes!

If only he could concentrate…his eyes were already out and on the display case across the other side of the room…

Enough of that! Back to reading!

He tried to keep his mind on the book, tried to keep it all laid out in his mind of the opportunities and things he would have to test out later once he had the materials but he just couldn't. Nothing was sticking in his mind and he was getting distracted at any little movement or sound.

He felt terrible though and he felt as if the room was trying to throw him out. He shook that thought out of his mind and tried to concentrate once more, a desperate last attempt. He needed to stay in focus, needed to be on his own for once and be an individual and yet it felt empty, it was as if he wasn't a full person without his other half and how could he? He was only half a person without George and he hated that fact. He got sick of always being in company, wanted some time to himself for once and yet he didn't know how to act! What to think! How to study!

This was crap-tastic.

Fred threw the book aside and forced himself up (with some difficulty) from the beanbags he had thrown himself into earlier. With an annoyed swipe he pushed his hair from his eyes as he got up and forced himself out of the room, feeling the room shove him out as his want and need to be himself for a while was waning. He kicked out at the wall of the room as he left, fat lot of good it had been for him. What kind of room showed him that really, deep down he wasn't comfortable with behind without George? What kind of idiocy was that?

He took off at a jog down the corridor and hurried his way back to the Gryffindor common room, hoping that the game was still going on (or at least another after it) and that he hadn't missed much. He could wait and try to be an individual when he got a girlfriend or something, he already had a life partner and for now, that was enough for him.

Who needed a Room of Requirement anyway? Not him.


End file.
